I just read an article that really got me going;
'After a 20-hour journey to New Delhi, Shubhneet Kaur, a New Zealand citizen from Manukau, and her son, Bachint Vir Singh, were turned back to New Zealand despite holding valid tourist visas for India. They pair arrived back in Auckland three days after their Monday evening departure - only to face a Customs interrogation about why they were on India's list of possible terrorists.' Herald
What sort of country are we becoming? Shubhneet and her two year old son are New Zealand citizens and have been since 2003. They have lived here for twelve years. They have every ounce of equality granted under New Zealand law as anybody else. That includes the right to freedom of movement and departure from New Zealand guaranteed under the NZBOR 1990. End of story.
The detention and questioning of New Zealand citizens for four hours is an affront to human rights. The article goes on to say that:
'...a Customs spokesman said the Auckland delay had been caused by several factors including language issues, changing of shifts for officers and delays in checks and processing.'
That simply is not acceptable. As New Zealand citizens, having been turned away from India for being on a 'terrorist blacklist' (which Mr Chris Carter believes to be a typo), our government has a duty to protect the rights and integrity of those citizens. That means, even being guilty, that our government would take thorough steps to ensure that all information is accurate and relevant procedure followed.
This cannot have been the case. They were detained for four hours - excessive and draconian given the evidence. The child was detained with the mother for the entire duration. Customs had no evidence that they should be detained - other than a faulty document. If you have lists of suspected terrorists, don't you think it might be a good idea to have them matching!? This isn't a Cleo quiz.
Shift changes are completely inadequate in justifying the length of that detention - they are seriously impeding on human rights just so Diane can go and grab a coffee? That's pathetic. The New Zealand government failed to take reasonable steps to protect the rights granted to its citizens. If you are going to detain someone, make sure you have proper grounds to do so. They look kind of Arab, and they are on a 'blacklist' - obviously they are a terrorist! Our government had no business preventing a two year old child and his mother from entering our country. The onus is not upon the mother and child to prove they are not terrorists; our government should have established that information before they were granted visas.
So far as language concerns, that sounds pretty arbitrary. But hey, she's ethnic so it sounds plausible right? As for the two year old son, it wasn't what he said that incriminated him, it was what he didn't say. Language issues are naturally a problem when one of the accused is not old enough to speak! He is, however, certainly old enough to answer to the charge of terrorism. Of course, the husband who they prevented from helping would have been able to assist greatly in the matter;
'"If their names are really on India's watchlist, why did the Indian High Commission issue tourist visas for them to go to India? Wellington should have already picked that up if it was true."'
Way to go New Zealand. Let's hold New Zealand citizens in detention for four hours with the only evidence being a list we didn't copy/paste correctly. Meanwhile, we'll stuff them around with shift changes and luggage screw ups cause we don't think detaining someone on suspicion of being a terrorist is really that serious.
She and her family had travelled twenty hours from New Delhi to be with her sick mother and attend a wedding. She was tired and vulnerable and her country failed her. The woman was so shaken by the event she was unable to talk. That is the power that the state has. We have human rights for a reason; that is to protect every New Zealander of every nationality from the deprivation of human integrity. It's barbaric to treat people like this and our government shouldn't get away with it. Just who exactly is the terrorist?
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